ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a range of ways to help health professionals and their students gain mastery in disagreeing gracefully, respectfully and constructively by investing time and effort into emotional intelligence. Programs like The Confident Minds Curriculum target specific skills to build emotional intelligence explicitly so that, over time, young people can get better at disagreeing gracefully. Unlike the traditional intelligence quotient, emotional intelligence can be learned and developed. D. Goleman Teaching young people early on that differences between people are normal but handling conflict respectfully is essential and can make a considerable difference to their relationships with others. Specific personalities, thinking styles and emotional temperaments are naturally more inclined to make use of empathy. Teaching and valuing emotional intelligence in the classroom helps everyone stay calm, kind and empathetic towards one another, so that everyone has the best chance to learn in a peaceful environment.
